Mercedes handles the competition because it knows how to handle data, too

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia driving the (3) Red Bull Racing car and Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes battle during the United States Formula One Grand Prix.

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton drives the (44) Mercedes to victory during the United States Formula One Grand Prix.

Clive Mason/Getty Images

Hamilton (left) and Bottas, each from team Mercedes, celebrate a team victory after the United States Formula One Grand Prix.

Peter J Fox/Getty Images

AUSTIN, Texas—History happened Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas. Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton won for the fifth time in six years at Austin, inching him closer to a fourth world championship this year. And on a macro scale, Hamilton’s victory sealed a fourth straight Formula One constructors’ championship for the Silver Arrows team at Mercedes. According to ESPN, that makes Mercedes the first team to win consecutive championships across a major regulation change.

How does a team achieve such sustained dominance—Mercedes has won a staggering 51 of 59 total races between 2014 and 2016—in an era where the sport has witnessed an infusion of more money, more engineering talent, and more of those aforementioned regulations? If you listen to members of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport tech team tell it, the answer starts in the team’s network stacks.

“The winning direction today is understanding what kind of problem are you trying to solve. Engineers are all interested in solving problems, but my mantra for a while has been ‘make sure you’re solving the right problem and not just the first one that comes along,’” Geoff Willis, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s former technical director and the team’s newly minted digital, engineering, and transformation director, tells Ars.

“With the top teams, there’s much less trial and error and more predictive understanding. So before we go to a race like here in Austin, we’ve done weeks and weeks of simulations of how to set the car up; drivers have done simulations in it, too. We have a good picture of what to expect, so what we look for when we get here: ‘Is there anything that alerts us to the car not behaving as we expect?’ If so, then we have a lot of what if studies to rely on.”

The ability to recognize and address reliability issues swiftly was certainly the theme when Ars got the opportunity to tour the Mercedes garage ahead of this weekend’s race. That invitation didn’t come from Mercedes, rather it came from Pure Storage, the California company that partnered with the carmaker early in 2016 to bring flash storage both to the factory and trackside. Network gear may seem like only a small piece of Mercedes’ winning puzzle, but the IT-minded on pit row quickly stressed how important their new storage solution can be.

Pure Storage's teaser video outlining the Mercedes partnership.

Simple logistics

Bottom-line numbers made the switch to Pure Storage flash arrays an easy decision for Mercedes, especially considering that hard disk drives were still in vogue within F1’s last decade. So in a sport where garage size can vary week to week (with Austin being on the smaller end: 2.5 Austin garages would fit in the Abu Dhabi one, according to the team), the new devices save a tremendous amount of space. Matt Harris, Mercedes' head of IT, says the team reduced the size of its networking stacks by nearly 70 percent, enough to make up the device cost with only two years of freight savings. “If you keep the weight down and save on cost, you can invest in other performance areas,” says Christian Dixon, a partnership manager on the Mercedes team. “And the more room we can save, the more equipment we can bring.”

More important than physical logistics improvement, however, the Pure Storage arrays helped Mercedes store and access its whopping amount of data more efficiently. Pure Storage says its technology minimizes the amount of data needed to be stored in a location two times more efficiently than its competitors, and (crucially for motorsport) it can transmit data in real time. As you might expect, the Mercedes team has needs more urgent and much larger than the Exchange archives of your average office space.

“Think of the cars as sensors going around the track, picking up info on acceleration, vibrations, pressures, temperatures—we have over 200 sensors on the car,” Dixon says. “We record over 100 times a second with 1,000 channels of data—we’re creating 1.8 billion data points.”

“And we generate 500GB in a race weekend, not just from the car but from everything we do,” Harris adds. “In fact the processing power of the car is the biggest problem—if the processor was faster, we could get data off faster. But now we have to compromise by weighing speed of offloading, speed of turnaround for the car to make decisions, and how much data we want to generate.” (Harris notes the ECU processor, dating back to 2009, is practically the only thing on the car that hasn’t radically changed in recent years.)

Mercedes team members analyze the data during the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

A look at Pure Storage's F1 arrays for Mercedes.

Pure Storage

Checking out data from the Bahrain Grand Prix via the Pure Storage Pit Wall, a data visualization and analysis initiative from the company.

Steve Etherington / Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

An overhead look from the Chinese Grand Prix earlier this season.

Steve Etherington / Mercedes

An artistic in-garage shot where the car is evidently lit to match the really drool-worthy hardware.

Pure Storage

Trackside, Harris says 30 or so teammates are dedicated to looking at the data, and updating their systems from relying on legacy servers to the Pure Storage arrays has enabled those datawatchers to act more quickly. “[With the old system], they knew it’d be one to two minutes to open the file, read through the data, and make a decision,” he says. “Opening the wrong bit of data would add time. Now, Pure brings the process down—you can actually make the wrong decision on which piece of data to open without compromising the next run of the car.”

For a real-world example of this new infrastructure supporting the on-track efforts, Harris points to this year’s race in Singapore. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes’ other world-class driver, kept telling the team he felt a cut in the engine. “But the guys kept saying, ‘No you’re not, you’re not,’” Harris says. “But they had to keep getting more refined on the data to see it; it ended up being a 13,000th of a second and Valtteri could feel it. It was a magnetic field the bridge created.”

The future, where ML meets Mercedes

As you may guess based on their recent history, the Mercedes team is already thinking extensively about where data analysis and storage need to be in the F1 future. To that end, Harris says, the team has started toying with ways to leverage modern machine-learning and artificial intelligence techniques, too. At their factory back in Brackley, England, they rely on Pure Storage Flash Blades (a scalable, parallel storage solution) to store all simulation results and historic data. Mercedes then combines that with another partnership, this one with a company called Tibco that produces software capable of leveraging machine learning for big data analytics.

“We always knew collecting data was a good thing, but we weren’t using it efficiently—it was hard to know what you want to find out and what’s useful to do,” Dixon says.

“So we asked, ‘How can we get rid of the normal data?” Harris continues. “We still keep that on a filer, but we don’t have to waste our time to look at it if it’s normal. What you want is abnormal data—is it abnormal because we made a change, or is there an issue, or is some kind of trend happening? We wanted to start automating the search for some of that since there’s only so many sets of eyes. These machine-learning, deep-learning techniques we’re beginning to look at it—and we are new to it, though learning fast—what we can start doing is immense.”

Willis has been in the sport for decades, much of that time as a technical director across various title-winning teams. He says collecting and understanding data is the area with the biggest gap between successful and unsuccessful F1 teams these days. So just as he helped encourage the team to embrace computer simulations and models once upon a time, today he’s also championing machine-learning adoption within Mercedes.

“I’m not sure whether to say F1 is slow to the party, but we’re just starting to apply this to a lot of areas. We have a handful of machine learning projects in very different areas: race strategy, testing, analysis of software, analysis of component failures,” he says. “Ultimately, it’ll lead to better decision-making. We have lots of data, but you have to do something to categorize it and know where it is before it becomes knowledge. When you then have that knowledge and understand how it all fits together; that’s the real driver for performance in F1.”

It would have been interesting to know how all that data gets back to the storage. Wireless, Radio, Cell etc. I do know that the communication is a two way in NASCAR per the pit can adjust various things on the car, on the fly without pitting. I would image F-1 has like adjustments on their cars.

It would have been interesting to know how all that data gets back to the storage. Wireless, Radio, Cell etc. I do know that the communication is a two way in NASCAR per the pit can adjust various things on the car, on the fly without pitting. I would image F-1 has like adjustments on their cars.

Pit wall is very limited in what they can do to a car that's out on track (by rule), and there was a period last year when they heavily restricted what teams were allowed to tell drivers with regard to changes that could be made using the controls on the wheel. Last year's Baku GP was a good example of that.

Quote:

None were more amusing than Hamilton suggesting he was “going to try and change everything”, only for his unflappable and incredibly tolerant race engineer, Pete Bonnington, to calmly reply: “We don’t advise that, Lewis.”

I was interested in reading the story, but it read more like an advertisement for Pure Storage. Was there a quota on how many times you had to mention them in the article?

As stated in the article, Pure Storage invited us out—media day requires credentials, same for garage access—but they didn't pay for travel/accommodation like some kind of junket as we've got a footprint in Austin days. We chatted with their CIO, but majority of the time was spent with the trio of Mercedes folks quoted in the piece.

(And while Mercedes folks mentioned PS a lot, presumably it was due to some combo of their partnership, the fact they feel it is an improvement over their previous setup, and a desire to highlight their trackside muscle relative to others.)

it ended up being a 13,000th of a second and Valtteri could feel it. It was a magnetic field the bridge created.

Holy moly! And yet people crap on Bottas all the time. That's insane - 1/13000 of a second.

Yes, sounds crazy and it is.If a Human being could be that sensible to vibration, it'll go insane the moment the first bunch of neuron formed inside the womb.

I feel this is a case of vibration amplification, where a small vibration that occurs at a particular time, resonates with other components that move or vibrate at harmonic interval, effectively amplifying it in certain ways. The pilot was not percieving the drop in power but a reminiscent vibration that started at the drop and got amplified somehow.

it ended up being a 13,000th of a second and Valtteri could feel it. It was a magnetic field the bridge created.

Holy moly! And yet people crap on Bottas all the time. That's insane - 1/13000 of a second.

It’s bogus, human biochemistry governing neural transmissions is simply not capable of transmitting (let alone process) signals that fast (stimuli => reaction latency). Data science calls this pattern matching; driver had a strong feeling, keep digging until pattern is found to agree with it. Even the best fighter pilots, best F1 drivers or best sportsperson will have a reaction time exceeding that by an order of magnitude or two.

It would have been interesting to know how all that data gets back to the storage. Wireless, Radio, Cell etc. I do know that the communication is a two way in NASCAR per the pit can adjust various things on the car, on the fly without pitting. I would image F-1 has like adjustments on their cars.

F1 has real-time wireless telemetry. There's not enough bandwidth to transmit all the data, but they get quite a lot in real time, and the rest they can download in the garage. The team has no remote control of the car. Only the driver can make inputs on track.

The driver can change a lot of car settings using the many knobs, buttons, and levers on the steering wheel. Some drivers will adjust the brake balance (front to rear) multiple times during their qualifying lap. They can select throttle maps, hybrid recovery maps, and they can control the slip ratio of the differential for three distinct phases of cornering: entry, mid, and exit. Mastering the differential settings is one of the skills that separates the elite F1 drivers from the rest, especially in changeable track conditions.

Meanwhile, the F1 driver is a little bit like the engineer of a steam locomotive, monitoring the temperature and pressure of the tires (and the engine but the tires especially) and trying to keep them "in the window" by using the brakes to heat the front tires and the throttle to heat the rear tires. A truly remarkable amount of engineering effort goes into trying to control tire temperature, not being allowed to put thermostatic actuators in the brake cooling ducts.

It would have been interesting to know how all that data gets back to the storage. Wireless, Radio, Cell etc. I do know that the communication is a two way in NASCAR per the pit can adjust various things on the car, on the fly without pitting. I would image F-1 has like adjustments on their cars.

I maybe confused it what you are trying to say but,

In NASCAR, the pit wall cannot change anything remotely. And unless they changed the rules for 2017, in NASCAR they have very limited if any real-time telemetry. They want it so that the driver has to communicate problems/issues back to the crew chief. The only thing that can be changed on the racetrack is the track bar and that is done by the driver.

Does Ars have editors? From the title onward this piece read so much like an infomercial I couldn't finish it. I think you could have conveyed the same information in a less fawning way.Either that or label it as advertising.

Without a doubt, this is my favorite article I've ever read on this site. Great pictures and writing! I just wish it was longer and far more technical! Personally, the 500GB figure seems low but I guess that's where a partnership here is the most crucial! Making sure you're capturing the right stuff and not just all the stuff has got to be a huge battle!

As an expert currently working in IT networking, the conflation of network and storage going on here is eye-twitch inducing. And then we have the constant advertising for Pure as if they have something new... There is now a distinction between flash and SSD, but all the major players have an implementation.

I was interested in reading the story, but it read more like an advertisement for Pure Storage. Was there a quota on how many times you had to mention them in the article?

Pure has a very good marketing team and they will get you on their team if it's your first rodeo. Very good at creating true believers through hype. The product itself is ok, nothing too special in the storage space.

it ended up being a 13,000th of a second and Valtteri could feel it. It was a magnetic field the bridge created.

Holy moly! And yet people crap on Bottas all the time. That's insane - 1/13000 of a second.

You know... I'm a little suspect on this one.

F1 cars engines are rev limited at 15,000 rpm. Lets assume a number of 13,000 for easy math, but understand that is near the top of the range, but the revs COULD be higher.

SO that's 13,000 revolutions per MINUTE. One revolution then occurs every 1/13000 of a minute. So if the car didn't fire for one revolution and he felt it, there would be a power interruption of 1/13000 of a minute. 60 times as long as 1/13000 of a second. Or in other words, in 1/13000 of a second, the engine turns 1/60 of a revolution. What power interruption is he feeling there?

F1 engines are 4-stroke V-6s. So every revolution has 3 'fire' events. So if ONE PLUG didn't fire ONE TIME at 13,000 RPM, that power interruption is going to be 1/650 of a second of power interruption.

Still impressive if that happened and Bottas felt it, but now I'm just thinking these guys sometimes like to just throw numbers at the press and think no one will ever check.

I was interested in reading the story, but it read more like an advertisement for Pure Storage. Was there a quota on how many times you had to mention them in the article?

I get what you mean, I had the same 'feel' about this article. I can accept that it wasn't an advertisement, and I wouldn't even mind if it was paid, because I quite liked the article.

I guess it is because the entire article is based on what Mercedes is saying about Pure Storage, and I assume they got a price reduction sponsorship in trade for advertising. Since you pretty much have to be alert for hidden advertisements 24/7 nowadays, the advertising by Merc through the non-advertising article really set my advertisement spidey sense tingling.

it ended up being a 13,000th of a second and Valtteri could feel it. It was a magnetic field the bridge created.

Holy moly! And yet people crap on Bottas all the time. That's insane - 1/13000 of a second.

You know... I'm a little suspect on this one.

F1 cars engines are rev limited at 15,000 rpm. Lets assume a number of 13,000 for easy math, but understand that is near the top of the range, but the revs COULD be higher.

SO that's 13,000 revolutions per MINUTE. One revolution then occurs every 1/13000 of a minute. So if the car didn't fire for one revolution and he felt it, there would be a power interruption of 1/13000 of a minute. 60 times as long as 1/13000 of a second. Or in other words, in 1/13000 of a second, the engine turns 1/60 of a revolution. What power interruption is he feeling there?

F1 engines are 4-stroke V-6s. So every revolution has 3 'fire' events. So if ONE PLUG didn't fire ONE TIME at 13,000 RPM, that power interruption is going to be 1/650 of a second of power interruption.

Still impressive if that happened and Bottas felt it, but now I'm just thinking these guys sometimes like to just throw numbers at the press and think no one will ever check.

When they talk about engine "cuts" or "derates" in modern (hybrid) F1, they're talking about the MGU-K, the electric motor on the crankshaft. From the description, the motor was briefly affected while passing through an external magnetic field at high speed. At 200 mph, the car travels about a quarter of an inch in 1/13000th of a second... That's seems on the small side for a magnetic anomaly but not inconceivable.

When do you think it was good? While one team dominated largely because of their engines is disapointing, this is still better racing than it was in many years where passing was nearly impossible.

Back when FIA published a set of rules and the teams did their best within those confines. So quite a bit further back than the MBZ domination with their innovative ECU/MCU/oh-yeah-there-is-an-engine-in-there device.

Not when the FIA dictates how the rules must be followed. Specifying number of cylinders, while banning 12cyl, then banning 10cyl, then dictating not only the 8cyl but its bore spacing and vee angle.

Limiting RPMs, and using the '09 CPU on the car.Before the idiotic idea that F1 should be a green sport; are they able to transport their batteries these days or do they have to be recycled in the country of their race?

You couldn't ban the CPUs or the on-board solutions today because the entire technical mass of spaghetti is required to control the power unit.

Not allowing changing the gears in the gearbox, so now the gearbox has an additional two gears so it will work on more tracks, are rugged monsters worth untold resources that must survive M races or the driver will lose starting line positions.

it ended up being a 13,000th of a second and Valtteri could feel it. It was a magnetic field the bridge created.

Holy moly! And yet people crap on Bottas all the time. That's insane - 1/13000 of a second.

You know... I'm a little suspect on this one.

F1 cars engines are rev limited at 15,000 rpm. Lets assume a number of 13,000 for easy math, but understand that is near the top of the range, but the revs COULD be higher.

SO that's 13,000 revolutions per MINUTE. One revolution then occurs every 1/13000 of a minute. So if the car didn't fire for one revolution and he felt it, there would be a power interruption of 1/13000 of a minute. 60 times as long as 1/13000 of a second. Or in other words, in 1/13000 of a second, the engine turns 1/60 of a revolution. What power interruption is he feeling there?

F1 engines are 4-stroke V-6s. So every revolution has 3 'fire' events. So if ONE PLUG didn't fire ONE TIME at 13,000 RPM, that power interruption is going to be 1/650 of a second of power interruption.

Still impressive if that happened and Bottas felt it, but now I'm just thinking these guys sometimes like to just throw numbers at the press and think no one will ever check.

When they talk about engine "cuts" or "derates" in modern (hybrid) F1, they're talking about the MGU-K, the electric motor on the crankshaft. From the description, the motor was briefly affected while passing through an external magnetic field at high speed. At 200 mph, the car travels about a quarter of an inch in 1/13000th of a second... That's seems on the small side for a magnetic anomaly but not inconceivable.

Humans can easily detect light flashes that last far less than 13000th of a sec so I don’t find this implausible at all.

The motor missing a beat might have lasted just 13000th but a consequent judder could have lasted a fair bit longer.

Just really depressed that I missed the entire season this year, I used to not miss a race for anything when I was younger. Really hoping we have some other (legal) means to watch races except the pay TV service or a pub next year.